NEW COVENANT KINGS–KINGDOM AUTHORITY
PART 4
GOSPEL POWER
The miracles of Christ are so related to the kingdom that they cannot be separated from His message. Every miracle was a declaration that the kingdom of God is come unto you. Luke opens the book of Acts with the declaration and demonstration of Jesus’ life, “… of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach.” Jesus pointed to His miracles as evidence for people to believe in Him. “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake” (John 14:11).
His miracles were proof that men should believe on Him as the Messiah. However, the miracles in themselves are not reason to believe people are of God; the truth they proclaimed must be God’s truth. One cannot separate the words of Jesus from the works of Jesus. The antichrist will work miracles and wonders, but he will not have the words of God. “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10).
Furthermore, Jesus prophesied that those who believe on Him would also preach His Words and work His works, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (John 14:12-14).
It is impossible to preach a full gospel without supernatural demonstrations and miracles, such as the supernatural gift of love and forgiveness. The power that sets captives free. The power that turns men from darkness to light. The manifestation of miracles and wonders. All these demonstrations and more are to accompany the gospel. This makes sense because the Kingdom is in the Holy Ghost. “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 14:17).
Paul could not perceive a gospel without power. He considers the gospel to be full of power and inseparable from the acts of the Holy Spirit. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17).
The power of the gospel is its ability to reveal the righteousness of God. This is revealed, not learned. It is the issue of faith and does not stand in the power of men’s persuasions. Paul didn’t stop there. He further proclaimed that he fully preached the gospel. What does this mean? How did Paul fully preach the gospel? His words of God were accompanied by the works of God, “Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God … I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (Romans 15:19).
WHAT JESUS EXPECTS OF BELIEVERS
This is the expectation of Jesus for all believers. Jesus told the disciples, “… go thou and preach the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:60). What was the expectation of this powerful message? Jesus’ expectation of His messengers is to “… Heal the sick, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you” (Luke 10:9). This was the characterization of Jesus’ life and message. Jesus even demonstrated to His skeptics, “But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you” (Luke 11:20).
The kingdom of heaven is always present and has the power to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out the devils, by the preaching of the gospel. Jesus’ ministry of preaching the gospel to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, preaching deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, and giving freedom to those who have been bruised and abused, is to continue through His Church. “And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:7-8).
The Christian life is a supernatural life … a spiritual life: unpredictable, uncontrollable, and uncontainable. We have lost our wonder of Christ, and the world no longer wonders what we are. Apart from the Holy Spirit’s working in and through the church, the world no longer wonders after Christ; we have become predictable, controlled, refined, and dead!
Congregations, preaching places, places where people gather religiously to hear something preached and then go away – this is not the corporate expression of Christ – that is a congregation, not a body! Certainly, not what Jesus expected.
SATAN DOESN’T CARE IF RELIGIOUS PEOPLE MEET
Satan is not averse to meetings; he is averse to local families and local expressions of the Body of Christ. Hence, you have the great history of Satan’s persistent effort to scatter the children of God and break up their corporate lives. But the only true power on earth is the Church because it is the Body of Christ. The Church is the place where the Holy Spirit resides and through which He operates. The presence of God is all over His Church. Nothing on earth rivals the Holy Spirit. No power can restrain His gospel for it is the power of God. However, a church detached from the Holy Spirit is impotent, bowing to the mercy of the generation.
Jesus has given the keys of the kingdom to believers that they may unlock its treasures and distribute its resources to men and nations, and that in every generation the ambassadors of this kingdom may say, “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 16: 19). Without this ability, the Church is but another institution of men.
This life is a partnership with God. Paul said we are laborers together with God. When the rulers rebuked the apostles for breaking their command to not preach the gospel, Peter responded by saying, “… we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him” (Acts 5:32). Peter understood this partnership with God. The church was never to become a political institution of intellect. It was to remain otherworldly, uncontrollable, as it walked in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
When God listed the valiant warriors, it was always those men and women who understood the presence of God. The greatest thing anyone can do for God and man is to maintain intimacy with the Lord. It is not the only thing, but it is the chief thing. The great people of earth are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer, nor those who say they believe in prayer, nor yet those who can explain prayer; but I mean those people who take time to pray. In this partnership, the world will be stunned at our Jesus and His gospel. We cannot do it without Him, and He will not do it without us; us being His Church.
Paul had to lay hands on the men at Ephesus for them to receive the Holy Spirit. Peter had to go to Cornelius’s house to preach the gospel. Paul had to command the demon to leave the girl. Peter and John had to give the lame man his healing; “… such as I have, I give,” Peter said. They walked with God, and the Holy Spirit preached through them. They were as much a demonstration of the gospel as they were a declaration.
PRAY AND PREACH
It is my prayer that our hearts, our families, and our devotion would rise to the highest privilege of serving the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. May we give our whole selves to being the soldiers of Jesus Christ.
May we see His glory rise above the rot of a godless society. May His light reveal the way for multitudes. May we herald His gospel as proud prophets who have the courage to unleash its power over the gates of Hell. Those powers of hell cause more devastation upon our families, our souls, and our beloved country than any nation or war ever has. O God, would you put heaven’s courage in us: to fight side by side, to fight for each other and with each other, and never against each other.
While we lay in our beds, multitudes are being slaughtered in the night. THE CARNAGE IS EVERYWHERE, ON OUR STREETS, IN OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, AND IN THE HIGHEST OFFICES OF GOVERNMENT. Dear God, let us know our value before Your throne. Let us know the power and possibility there with You and those who are at Your feet.
Don’t falter my friend. Be the fuel of every prayer meeting. When you want to sleep – stir yourself. Hear the bombs; see the slavery of the masses. You who once served a kingdom perishable, give your all to the King of Glory. We are in a great spiritual battle between the very forces of Heaven and Hell. All our combined effort, time, wealth, and ability are not adequate to hold back the destruction of our nation. We must pray! We must preach. Today the crisis is acute. The danger is imminent. Time is running out. Fight my dear friend. Fight in the prayer meetings. Unleash the gospel power into the streets again.